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Rebel soldiers attacked Guinea's junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara on Thursday but he survived the attempt, his communication minister said, calling the incident an insurrection against the military leadership.

Witnesses said gunshots rang out across the capital Conakry in the worst unrest in Guinea, the world's top exporter of the aluminium ore bauxite, since a Sept. 28 crackdown on opposition protesters that rights groups said killed more than 150 people.

Minister Idrissa Cherif declined to say whether Camara had been wounded.

"He is doing well. He is out of danger in his presidential palace," Cherif said by telephone. "Those that orchestrated this insurrection will be punished."

He named a close Camara aide, Aboubacar "Toumba" Diakite, as being behind the attack.

"He (Diakite) has been found," Cherif said.

Diakite was the lieutenant widely cited as leading the September crackdown on opponents of Guinea's military junta.

Witnesses said Conakry appeared calm after the incident in the early evening, with hardly any traffic on the streets.

The incident happened as international investigators were in Guinea carrying out a U.N.-backed inquiry into the Sept. 28 killings.

"There was some shooting and there are soldiers all over town," one diplomat in the city said.

"What we are hearing is that they either arrested Toumba or were going to arrest him and he shot at Dadis. There is no doubt that this is linked to the investigation," the diplomat said.

Camara came to power in a bloodless coup last December after the death of strongman leader Lansana Conte. He initially promised to allow a transition to civilian rule but has since delayed elections and refused to hand over power.

His junta has been hit with international sanctions including weapons embargoes, visa bans and freezes on foreign bank assets.